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Willa CatherA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Willa Cather’s fiction consistently emphasizes the struggle between the artist and society, especially within settings such as the fictional town of Sand City in “The Sculptor’s Funeral.” In this story, the artist is presented as a sympathetic figure who is exalted almost to the point of sainthood through the palm leaf that adorns his casket and a series of allusions to Christianity. In contrast, Steavens, his friend and former student, is alternately shocked and horrified by the townspeople’s insensitivity and their inability to understand life in any nonpragmatic or nonmaterialistic way.
Since the story is told through an artist’s perspective, Merrick is presented as “splendid” and “noble,” even in death, in contrast to the locals’ mocking and insulting demeanors. Nevertheless, the impact of the townspeople upon Merrick is clear. Upon viewing the body, Steavens reflects, “It was as though the strain of life had been so sharp and bitter that death could not as once wholly relax the tension and smooth the countenance into perfect peace” (331). Further, it is “as though he were still guarding something precious and holy which might even yet be wrested from him” (331).
By Willa Cather
A Lost Lady
A Lost Lady
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A Wagner Matinee
A Wagner Matinee
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Coming, Aphrodite!
Coming, Aphrodite!
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Death Comes for the Archbishop
Death Comes for the Archbishop
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Lucy Gayheart
Lucy Gayheart
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My Antonia
My Antonia
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Neighbour Rosicky
Neighbour Rosicky
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One Of Ours
One Of Ours
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O Pioneers!
O Pioneers!
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Paul's Case
Paul's Case
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Shadows on the Rock
Shadows on the Rock
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The Professor's House
The Professor's House
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The Song of the Lark
The Song of the Lark
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